Strawberries
by fragmentalis
Summary: When Kutner and Thirteen are searching a patient's home, one of their family members show up, forcing the two doctors to hide in the attic. They end up in an awkward, but nice, situation.


**Strawberries**

**A/N:** LOL, I came up with this when I was outside earlier. I figured we all needed a little pick-me-up after 'Wilson's Heart', so my muse created this... 'Tis quite short and sweet.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own House M.D.

**Summary:** When Kutner and Thirteen are searching a patient's home, one of their family members show up, forcing the two doctors to hide in the attic. They end up in an awkward, but nice, situation.

!#&()+

"Let's review. We're looking for toxins, mold, and dirty little secrets," Kutner informed his co-worker, christened 'Thirteen', as they'd fortunately located a spare key under a flower pot.

Quite unethical was Gregory House the diagnostician, as he forced his fellows to break into patients' homes to explore means of illness such as radioactive materials, environmental problems, as well as things the patient might be hiding, such as drug or alcohol abuse.

Kutner and Thirteen unlocked the door and entered the house, the stale aroma of homeowner absence meeting them, as their eyes danced around what appeared to be the living room. Kutner placed the key neatly back under the flower pot where they had found it, before reentering the home and closing and locking the door behind him.

"I got this room. You go check out the bedroom," Kutner instructed Thirteen, who followed his orders, but only reluctantly so.

"Yes, master," she responded sarcastically, before wandering through the house, seeking the bedroom.

She finally found it at the end of a hallway, lights off and no one around. Thirteen flipped the lightswitch up, the bright glow revealing a neat little bedroom with a floral design everywhere, a twin bed situated in the center. The patient appeared to be very tidy and obsessive, Thirteen noted. There was an attic door with a small string attached in the center of the celing, which she intended to check after her search of the bedroom.

She leafed through the bedside table drawers, finding nothing, and also checked the air conditioning vent. She sighed at the failure of not finding anything, and secretly hoped Kutner wouldn't either, so he wouldn't be able rub it in her face.

As she became very briefly lost in thought, she heard several loud thumps from the living room. The odd noise slowly developed into clear, distinctive, heavy footsteps, winding up the hall towards the bedroom where Thirteen stood nervously. Was there someone coming after her?

She stood in silence for a moment, before uttering a yelp in surprise, as Kutner bombarded the room, barreling through the door and nearly knocking Thirteen back on the bed.

"Somebody came home! We need to hide, now!" Kutner whispered urgently, holding onto Thirteen's arms out of pure worry.

"Let's hide in the attic," she replied, remaining relatively calm even under the circumstances. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up on the end of the bed with her. She motioned for him to be quiet, as she deftly maneuvered the thin piece of wood from the attic entrance, and hoisted herself up into it. He quickly followed.

The ceiling was low enough and the bed high enough to where anyone could easily get into the attic from the edge of the bed. As soon as Thirteen and Kutner had both ended up in the attic, Thirteen collapsed on her back to the right of the opening, while Kutner frantically searched for a place to lay.

Thirteen saw no other solution, as the attic was very small, so she took Kutner by the shirt collar and pulled him on top of her with a hard tug. She pulled her arm out from under him and replaced the wood over the opening. They heard faint footsteps in the bedroom, but neither paid much attention to that.

Kutner was unable to lift his head up very far, so his face was maybe an inch-and-a-half away from hers. Their heavy breaths mingled and swirled together, as they stared at each other awkwardly. A sudden comforting warmth washed over each of them, their bodies pressed together firmly, and they weren't able to move much in the confined space.

Kutner suddenly caught a whiff of an enchanting fragrance, and he realized it was Thirteen's hair.

"What is it?" She inquired quietly, noticing his newly formed smile. He'd never noticed he was smiling until Thirteen addressed him and shared a similar grin.

"Your hair smells like strawberries," he admitted, laughing a bit. She giggled torpidly.

"I guess it's my shampoo," Thirteen stated, trying to hear whoever was in the house.

Suddenly, the pair heard the front door close loudly. Thirteen breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally! I think they left, so we can get down now," she told Kutner.

"Damn it," Kutner muttered, thinking Thirteen couldn't hear him.

"Huh?"

"It's nothing," he replied, proceeding to climb down from the attic, all the while regretting the end of their time there.


End file.
